Cyber-bullying of Pakistani actresses is a troubling issue that we need to talk about
Can Pakistani’s ever understand the difference between reel and real life?
We love how dramas can engage us into a different world and provide some distraction from the abysmal environment surrounding us at the moment, but there are times when we’ve noticed how Pakistani audiences take their obsessions a little to far. Even to the point that it is the female actress that face death threats for something their characters did on screen.
A case on point is the nation’s beloved drama ‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum’. We all adored Sharjeena and Mustafa’s electrifying chemistry. They showed us how it isn’t unmanly to admit your traumas and feel emotional over the loss of a child.
But at the same time, it has reignited the mass cyber-bullying and death threats female actresses play for playing negative characters in a drama. Areej Chaudhary played the socialite Natasha in the drama who had an affair with Adeel behind Rubab’s back.
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She was a guest on Nida Yasir’s show ‘Good Morning Pakistan’ where she spoke about the intense hate mail she was receiving for what her character had done in the drama.
Chaudhary shared after the show began airing, she received all kinds of hate mail and threats from people in the comment section of her Instagram account. Since there isn’t anything better for people to do than to project all of their hatred and insecurity towards a woman who basically played a role on screen that doesn’t reflect her in reality.
This is not the first time we’ve seen actresses becoming targets on social media because people dislike something about their television performances. Previously as the popularity of ‘Tere Bin’ spread across the sub-continent, the actress Sabeena Farooq opened up about the kind of death threats trolls sent her because of her character Haya.
The ‘Kabli Pulao’ actress released a statement on her Instagram account slamming the threats towards her family as ‘disturbing’.
“It’s just a character,” Sabeena spelled out. “Some idiots cannot differentiate between a character and an actor, I am requesting them not to take out their frustrations on me..”
Why do female celebrities face so much cyber-bullying in comparison to men?
The case of Pakistani actresses and cyber-bullying is a tale as old as time. Our audience live under the assumption that because female celebrities are public figures, they are entitled to critique every aspect of their life and nosy into their private affairs. Misogyny has taught as no matter what happens, the arrow must always point to the woman. So that is why there isn’t a single female celebrity out there who hasn’t been subjected to the mass hate of Pakistani men and women who think that having a keyboard means they’re entitled to having an opinion about everything in their lives.
Read more: Is the Internet a safe space for women and their bodies?
Female celebrities are not your public property, and they are real life human beings with families and friends out there. They deserve the same respect as male public figures, who are able to get away with doing actual bad things without facing the same kind of scrutiny or targeted hate campaigns y’all are quick to throw on women.
For once Pakistani’s, we are begging you all to maybe get off the internet for a little while and indulge into a hobby. Go outside for a walk. Drink water. Because by the end of the day, this is JUST A DRAMA. This is not real life. These actresses are paid to perform a role on screen, and then just like the rest of us they clock off the job and live their actual lives.
